“Well, she has been cutting up one of the greatest pranks you ever heard of,” I replied. “She almost deserves to be shut up, for daring to do it. Can’t you guess what she has done?”
He mused a moment, and then looking at me, said in a low voice, and with a serious looking face, “Engaged?”
“Yes,” said I, “absolutely engaged to be married to General Tom Thumb. Did you ever hear of such a thing?”
“Is that so, Lavinia?” asked the Commodore, looking her earnestly in the face.
“That is so,” said Lavinia; “and Mr. Wells has gone to obtain my mother’s consent.”
The Commodore turned pale, and choked a little, as if he was trying to swallow something. Then, turning on his heel, he said, in a broken voice:
“I hope you may be happy.”
As he passed out of the door, a tear rolled down his cheek.
“That is pretty hard,” I said to Lavinia.
“I am very sorry,” she replied, “but I could not help it. That diamond and emerald ring which you bade me present in my name, has caused all this trouble.”